Inside Deutsch’s NY Summer Internship Program

The 8-week summer internship program at Deutsch is a full-time, paid gig where students get to learn from one to two mentors in the department to which they have been assigned. “I tell the interns on day one that they are treated like employees,” said Rebecca Hoffman, Deutsch NY HR Generalist. “That means we trust them to do real work and do it well.”

To familiarise the students with the agency structure, they attended weekly Speaking Deutsch sessions (an informative presentation hosted by an employee from a different department each week) to expose them to the various roles and responsibilities within a full-service agency. 

“We treat them with the respect of being part of the team and give them the tools to learn what it’s really like to work at an advertising agency,” said Hoffman.

They were even assigned a group project where they developed a mock campaign proposal for a client-brand partnership for the nonprofit organisation United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. In their final week, they presented their findings to Deutsch NY’s CEO, Val DiFebo, and team of executives.

Now that our 2018 summer program has wrapped up, we’re already feeling nostalgic.

Let’s hear from three of our NY summer interns about a typical day at Deutsch:

Claudia Portugal

Art & Print/Content Production Intern

Morning:

Good Morning, Deutsch!

I get into the office on the earlier side, check my email and calendar, then continue working on a big image search for our client, ACUVUE. I sift through stock sites like Shutterstock and Getty for assets that fulfil the creative brief.

My team meets with a visiting photographer. We flip through their portfolio and ask questions (and hear about their crazy adventures and celeb stories behind the photos!). As an Art History major, I find the intersection of the art and advertising worlds so rich and full of possibility.

Midday:

Deutschers get together for Speaking Deutsch, a weekly summer “lunch and learn” series that gives us interns the opportunity to hear from each department at the agency.

Later, I meet with my team to work on our group project developing a campaign proposal for United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organisation, to partner with a brand that appeals to millennials - aka, us! We already have our brand recommendation on lock, so we are now brainstorming winning campaign ideas.

Afternoon:

I head down to Industria Studios for a PNC bank shoot and the set is bustling with crew members while Deutschers look over new stills with the client. Seeing this project come to life is so rewarding, as I’ve witnessed firsthand the hard work that went into it all summer long.

Before I know it, it’s time to hop on the train, head home, and rest up for another day at Deutsch!

Sarah Evich

Account Management Intern

Morning

I start my day at the barista bar with my mentor, Alex Studer, to go over what our day looks like and my responsibilities. (He always orders the same double shot caramel latte with skim.) Then, I meet with my group for our intern project before the day gets too busy.

Midday

We meet with the Creative (shout out @Beyobeee!) or Production team to regroup on Innovation videos, our upcoming global Masterbrand shoot. With only a few minutes to spare before most of our meetings, Alex and I make our usual pitstop at the office snack table for some beloved peanut butter pretzels.

Afternoon

I have some time to work on my projects, eat lunch, and help my mentor with assignments. Recently, we’ve been having meetings with two of the Creative interns who work on the creative aspect of my ACUVUE intern project. To wrap up the day, we have a client status call or a presentation in the War Room.

Philip Perricelli

Digital Production Intern

Morning

With the easiest commute from North Jersey I’ll ever have, my day starts with a short walk from Penn Station to the office. I check in with my manager, Lauren Pfahler, about my responsibilities for the day. After that, I get coffee with our awesome barista Stephanie. Once I get an understanding of the day’s responsibilities, it’s all hands on deck with the Digital Production team!

Midday

I help other teams with projects like helping resize images on Photoshop, editing articles in the CMS, and setting up calls with vendors. I find time in between to work on the group internship project where I get exposure to all aspects of the campaign process: developing creative content with Photoshop, analysing data — I’ve even used Scarborough to read indexes to support our brand recos!

Afternoon

What a day! We wrap up with meetings and preparing for tomorrow.

I either drag my other intern Kori to a boxing class at Title or run off to Soul Cycle in Noho to end the day!

From participating in client meetings and coordinating agency projects to presenting their final project to Deutsch executives, the interns see it all.

“Having been an intern at Deutsch for two summers before getting hired, it’s really exciting to see young talent come into Deutsch each season,” said Lauren Pfahler, Digital Producer at Deutsch NY. “Day one is substantially different from day 30. You see the mentee grow, gain confidence, and start to become a critical day-to-day member of the team.”